Bittersweet
by KathAdrian
Summary: What could possibly make Severus Snape want to reveal his secret relationship to a bunch of dunderheads at an official Ministry Ball? Where Dumbledore would answer 'love' I say 'jealousy'. SSHG. Rating for - very - minor swearing.


**Hello everyone!**

**I know I've been away for a while, but I just needed to write a new fanfiction :) It took me by surprise and I simply couldn't resist the urge! This is - obviously - a new SSHG story ( you know me so well... ), and I hope you'll like it!**

**I know everybody's waiting for their pottermore email ( anyway, I am ) and I hope this will take your mind off it if only for a little bit :)**

**It's just a - very - short OS about the bittersweet taste of secret romance ^^ I didn't take the time to specify the settings of the story. You just need to know it takes place a few years after the war :)  
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**I didn't have this one beta'd so I hope my english is, well, readable at least. I'm afraid I'm a bit rusty. But enjoy anyway!**

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><p><strong>Pour tous les français qui me suivent, je traduirai probablement cet OS très bientôt :)<br>**

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><p><strong>AN : I'm not english speaking. I've lived in France my whole life.**

**Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter. If I did the whole fandom wouldn't want Hermione and Ron together :)**

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><p><strong>AND FOR GOD'S SAKE, GOOD LUCK TO EVERYBODY WHO'S IN LONDON RIGHT NOW...<br>**

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><p>"She is a beautiful young lady, isn't she?"<p>

Albus Dumbledore's words pulled Severus out of his reverie. He simply looked into the old man's eyes and wondered why the old coot wasn't dead yet. Of course he said this now but he knew the Headmaster's death would probably crush him.

"Our little Hermione Granger certainly has grown into a charming woman, don't you think?"

Or maybe not. Severus pinched the bridge of his abnormally large nose and tried to restrain the flood of insults that came to his mind. He took a deep breath and looked at the Gryffindor princess dancing her legs off a few feet away. The Potions Master had to admit his mentor had a solid point. Hermione had, without a doubt, evolved into the most beautiful and brightest witch he had ever had the chance to encounter. This, however, wasn't a thought he felt ready to share with anyone, especially under the circumstances. He could feel the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes even without having to look at them and felt an urgent need to hide behind his usual wall of sarcasm.

"Why in the world should I care what Miss Granger has grown up to be, Albus?"

Severus saw the old man smile and knew he had made a huge mistake answering him. Damn it.

"I never suggested you had any reason to care, Severus. I simply wanted you to state the obvious, is this too much to ask for?"

And here was the bloody smile that still haunted Severus' nightmares. Obviously the old man got a kick out of pissing him off. Severus put his hands behind his back in a desperate attempt to hide his anger. Of course, he knew the Headmaster could read him like an open book no matter what he did or said. He sighed and decided that playing Albus' game was yet his best chance of keeping part of his dignity intact.

"Yes, I suppose Miss Granger isn't as ugly as one could expect an insufferable know-it-all to be. Happy?"

He had uttered all of this through gritted teeth trying to show how painful it had been for him. Albus gave him a small smile and put a hand on his shoulder. Oh oh, trouble coming.

"It wasn't so hard, was it?" Severus had well in mind to show Albus how hard it really had been, but once again, he simply restrained himself. "I cannot help wondering why Hermione is still single. It really is a mystery."

Severus raised an eyebrow but felt his jaw clench when he saw Albus winking at him before walking away. The old coot had still managed to make a fool out of him! The nerve of this man was beyond everything he had ever seen! He took a deep breath and resumed his contemplation of the young woman in front of him. She really was quite a sight tonight and Severus felt the usual burning in his stomach as she hugged the Potter boy.

As soon as The-Boy-Who-Kicked-You-Know-Who's-Ass walked away, Weasley took his place. Severus had always held a special place for Harry Potter on his wall of hate, but he had to admit that Ronald Weasley was gaining ground on his best friend. Potter was twenty points up but Severus had a feeling that the ginger-haired idiot would soon make first place.

The look he gave Hermione awarded him 10 points, at least. Then there was the way he held her hand. 20 points. The way he kept getting closer when she tried to escape. 50 points. Ron placed his hand on the small of Hermione's back and Severus saw red. 200 points. The Weasley boy got so far ahead that Severus lost the last bit of self control he had been trying to hold on to. He stalked in their direction as the song came to an end, mentally trying to keep himself from hexing the boy's balls off.

"May I?" Severus nearly barked, interrupting whatever idiocy Ronald was saying to his Hermione. The young witch immediately turned towards Severus and gently put her hand in his, ignoring the look of complete disgust on her friend's face. She tried to control her features but she knew all too well that her eyes were smiling for the rest of her face. She quickly checked if anyone was in hearing distance before saying:

"I thought you'd never ask me to dance Severus."

The Potions Master tried to keep the bitterness out of his tone but could only witness his attempt's pathetic fail. "I didn't see the point. You were apparently having a very good time without my company."

Hermione frowned. "You know I hate these Ministry Balls as much as you do Severus. I'm simply trying to save appearances."

"Saving appearances." He chuckled. "Then maybe you care more about these strangers' opinion than about mine."

The Gryffindor lifted her arm, gently brushing her thumb against Severus' cheek. "What's gotten into you?"

The sadness in her voice made his heart break a bit, but he wouldn't let it stop him. "I want to tell."

Hermione shivered a bit and Severus went rigid. "Why so suddenly?" Severus could hear a slight flicker of fear in her voice, but he tried to ignore it.

"I can't stand the way other men look at you. Especially that Weasley idiot."

"Ron isn't stupid! And he and I are just friends, you know that."

"No I don't. And for that matter, nobody else does. That Weasley girl keeps sending him your way; I just want them to know."

"Sev…" She heard him growl. "…erus. We both agreed we weren't ready for this."

"I'm ready. And I don't see any rea…"

"Well I'm not!" Hermione abruptly interrupted him. Severus stopped dead in his tracks, feeling his anger start to rise up again. He quickly let go of her and took a step back. He ran a hand through his hair and tried to look angrier and less hurt than he really was.

"Fine." He finally said through gritted teeth before walking out of the room and disapparating.

Hermione simply stood there, watching the silhouette of the man she loved disappear into the night. She tried to forget the hurt she had heard in Severus' voice but his words kept echoing inside her head like nothing could make them go away. When Ron joined her in the middle of the dance floor, she was trembling.

"What has that bastard done to you?"

The young witch was crying now and could only find the strength to shake her head no.

"Look whatever he told you, don't listen to him!"

"He didn't say anything… It was me. It's all my fault…"

"What are you talking about? You can't possibly have hurt his bloody feelings, he's got none!"

Ron didn't realize it but what he said wasn't helping her one bit. She abruptly got away from her friend and left the Ministry Hall, apparating to the only place she knew she would find answers. Hogwarts. She walked through Hogsmeade and opened the castle gates before rushing towards Minerva's office. It was near two in the morning but she knew Professor McGonagall wouldn't mind being woken up this late. She barged into her office and was surprised to see Minerva still awake, apparently waiting for someone behind her desk.

"Oh, you're finally here. Take a seat, love." Too used to obeying her teacher's orders, Hermione sat down. But when she was about to ask Minerva what she was doing up so late, the old lady put her hand in the air, silencing her.

"Severus woke up half the school when he came back. I expected you to pay me a little visit, that's all. Now, what happened exactly?"

Hermione stayed motionless for a moment. She couldn't believe her former teacher and present colleague could be so nice to her.

"I think I made a terrible mistake." Hermione whispered as if ashamed to appear anything but flawless in front of a teacher.

"This is unheard of, to say the least."

"Please Minerva, don't." Hermione dried off her last tears before speaking again. "Severus wants to go public."

"Oh, I see. But why in heaven should that be a problem? I thought you wanted to tell your friends…"

"I do Minerva. I really do. I just never thought he would."

"So you turned him down? It's no wonder Severus is so upset."

Hermione's eyes shot open at Minerva's statement. "But why should he be upset? You know I only did this to protect him…"

"Protect him?" Professor McGonagall's eyebrow shot up and Hermione felt like she had given the wrong answer.

"Minerva, you know what people will say… I don't mind, but he will. I know his bloody _You're too good for me_ speech by heart! He might use people's opinion as another excuse… I couldn't bear it..."

Minerva stood up and put her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "I know you were trying to do the right thing, but… I don't think Severus took it this way."

"What do you mean?"

Minerva heard the panic in her young colleague's voice and took a deep breath. "He probably thought you were ashamed of being with him."

"Ashamed? It's absurd! How could he possibly think that…" But Hermione suddenly understood what Minerva had meant. Of course he would think that, he _always_ assumed the worst. The young witch grasped Minerva's arm and got up. "How am I ever going to fix this?"

"Calm down, dear. There is a simple solution. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow's Order meeting. Can you do that?"

"But what if he doesn't show up?"

"Trust me, Albus won't give him a choice."

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><p>"You know I will hate you forever for this, Albus."<p>

"Now now, Severus. You never know. I'm willing to bet you will actually thank me for this meeting."

"I doubt it." Severus groaned before walking away. He settled against a wall, far away from every other soul present this day in the old house of Black. Surely enough, Hermione walked in just a few seconds later. What he couldn't figure out however was the reason why she was smiling.

_She was probably looking for an excuse to break up and was thrilled I gave her one…_

However, doubt crept into his mind when Hermione made her way towards him. Her smile did not falter once. He raised an eyebrow almost mechanically. What was she doing? She would never be so cruel as to laugh in his face, so why did she look so happy?

"What are you s…" He began, but Hermione interrupted him in the most delicious way he had ever experienced. She grabbed the front of his robes and pulled him down for a kiss. Too shocked to respond at first, he simply let her. But when she pulled away, he grabbed the back of her head and kissed her again, way too intoxicated by the feel of her lips against his to notice that the room had fallen silent.

When he finally broke the kiss, he felt everyone staring at them. Oddly enough, Hermione didn't seem to mind. She simply snuggled against his chest. Albus' eyes had begun twinkling again, as had Minerva's. Ronald's face had lost all of its usual color, and half of the people standing there looked like someone had died. But just when Snape was about to take out his wand just in case it got nasty, Fred and George got a piece of paper out of their pocket.

"So who had bet on today's meeting?"

The whole Weasley family – except Ronald – raised their arm and cheered. Albus and Minerva soon followed. Harry, however, took twenty galleons out of his pocket and gave them to the Weasley twins.

"I had bet on yesterday's Ball! So close!"

Hermione looked up at Severus' face and couldn't stifle a giggle. She had never seen him so shocked in her entire life. He frowned at her but she knew he was faking it. She gently extended her hand and he gladly accepted it. They could vaguely hear Ron yelling his lungs out a few feet away, but neither of them found the energy to care.

"How can you all bet on this? You've all gone insane!"

"Oh cheer up Ron!" Harry answered, laughing.

"Harry! You're bloody mad, you are!"

The rest of his speech was lost in the group's noisy discussion. Nobody paid him any attention, and this simple fact made Severus almost as happy as the way Hermione kissed him. Almost.

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><p><strong>So how was it? My sister told me she was a bit surprised by Hermione and Minerva's relationship, I hope you didn't mind :)<strong>

**If you have anything to comment on, please do so. I'd really appreciate it if you took the time to review, honestly it doesn't take that long and you may even make the author's day ( let's be honest, you probably will, whatever you have to say ).**

**I don't have any other fanfictions planned, but you never know :) Hope to see you soon :)**

_**A desperate Potterhead waiting for her email.**_


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